Yellowknife (Oct 20/06) - A 26-year-old school bus driver from Manitoba was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Thursday for possessing crack.

RCMP stopped Warren Darryl Ransom, now of Thompson, Man., in Yellowknife on March 20 for a traffic violation.

When officers saw a baseball bat in his vehicle, they searched it and found six rocks of crack cocaine, a wad of cash and a cell phone.

He was originally charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, but the charge was later changed to simple possession.

Ransom, who has since moved to Manitoba and gotten a job driving a school bus, pleaded guilty to the charge against the advice of his lawyers who felt he could dispute the legality of the search. He returned to Yellowknife via a four-day bus ride to attend his sentencing hearing.

"Four days on a bus is a measure of punishment in itself," said territorial court judge Brian Bruser.

However, though a pre-sentencing report said Ransom had no criminal or drug-related record and recommended a conditional sentence to be served in the community, the scope of the report was limited because Ransom didn't want his family to know about his arrest.

In sentencing the man, Bruser said the lack of information made it difficult to assess his character, and that people must be discouraged from buying crack.

"Crack cocaine has become a cancer eating away at the social fabric of this community," said Bruser.

"The public does not benefit from lenient sentences in crack possession. Lenient sentences send a message to drug dealers across Canada that Yellowknife is open for business."

After Ransom has served his time in jail, he should be able to get the cash and the cell phone back.